LCMC sees increased admissions

Hearing a report that admissions are increasing at the county-owned hospital in Ruidoso, Lincoln County Commissioner Dallas Draper asked if cases of the flu are driving up the Lincoln County Medical Center's claims for uncompensated health care.

"Do you see the effect?" he asked during the commission meeting Tuesday.

"Yes, I do," said Scott Annala, county indigent health care coordinator. "There's a lot more inpatient admitting by the sole community provider (LCMC). If they are qualified under my program, that's what we will take care of. As far as incidences of the flu, I haven't seen the billing come through, but I suspect it's definitely on the rise in my program. The hospital has been hammering me with claims."

Brad Treptow, public relations officer for LCMC, said Thursday admissions were up within the last month because "a lot of people were in town because of the holidays."

"There were various reasons admissions were up but as far as the flu, it's nothing more than we would expect this time of the year," Treptow said.

Annala handles uncompensated care claims from the hospital under the Sole Community Provider Program in which each county dollar pledged is matched two to one with federal dollars. He also runs the county's Indigent Health Care Fund, a voter-approved fund fueled by a gross receipts tax, to cover unpaid claims by health care providers outside of the hospital who treated indigent patients.

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Reporting on a conference call concerning the future of the two programs as the state searches for other sources of revenue to cover its indigent health care obligations, Annala told commissioners he learned during a conference call with key officials that the SCP program will be revamped in Fiscal Year 2015.

"Fiscal Year 2014, the one we're working on now, is basically going to be the same that it is this year and has been," Annala said. "But there are some changes coming down. The county still will put up their match, which is the state share. The state still will broker some money from the federal level. But what's coming down the pike and what the conference call was all about is that there's going to be two different distinct pools that the hospital will have to be approved for.

"The one pool would be uncompensated care and the other would be the Delivery System Reform pool (under ObamaCare). I can't tell you the exact percentages at this time."

In related action, commissioners approved 80 claims recommended out of 81 reviewed by Annala under the SCP program. The total for claims approved hit $128,073, bringing the year-to-date figure to $801,669, an average monthly amount of $114,524. If the trend continues, the end of year total would hit $1.37 million, he said. "It's creeping up there and we're watching it," he said.

For the last two fiscal years, the total commission-approved SCP claims were $1,118,309 and $1,201,132, respectively.

Under the county's Indigent Health Care Fund, commissioner approved 60 of 65 claims processed by Annala this month for a total of $25,499.39, with a year-to-date figure of $159,762. For the last two years, the average Indigent Health Care monthly payments were $36,467 and $21,651, respectively. This year, the average is $22,823 and the budget is $386,461.

"It looks like I'm going to roll over abut $100,000," Annala said. "This year, I'm not really wanting to roll over that much because of higher purposes and the state Legislature and what not. I'm going to try to use it instead of lose it. I have some bigger claims that I'm trying to let someone else take first, but ultimately, they will come down on my program."

Annala has reported previously to commissioners that state officials may raid local indigent health funds to supplement the state's related expenses.

Commission Chairman Jackie Powell asked Annala if more adjustments could be made to payment caps and income eligibility to avoid exceeding the budget for the SCP program.

The commissioners approve what goes to the sole community provider fund quarterly along with a one-time annual supplement, he said. "As far as the program, I just keep track of the amount of money," he said. "The hospital is getting much more than that from this program. It's just my accounting of the (claims) that come through my office that I keep track of. They do not run out of money. We won't go over."

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